Razor blade sharpener



Aug. a4, 1934. 7

F. E. WOLCOTT RAZOR BLADE SHARPENER Filed March 8, 1930 Patented Aug. 14, 1934 UN l S TA T E'S PATENT FI CE .31 Claims.

My invention relates to razorblade sharpeners.

It has among its objects to provide an improved razor blade sharpener of the type having a casing carrying sharpener rolls and pivoted flaps on said casing carrying blade engaging means or rolls co-operating with the rolls in said casing. A further object of my inventionis to provide improved means for controlling the flaps of such a sharpener whereby the flaps may be disposed and retainedin closed positionwhile being readily depressible at will to vary the-pressure on the blade being sharpened, and also readily openable when desired. A still further object of my invention is to provide improved co-operating spring and holding means for the flaps, one co-operating with the other and having the spring means adapted to permit depression of the flap to vary the pressure on the blade and the holding means, preferably in the form of controlling push button mechanisms, operative to hold the flaps in-closed position while permitting this depression and'also operative to release the flaps for automatic opening by said spring means. Still another object of my invention is to provide such a constructionwhere-in these flap controlling means are I operatively connected between the flaps and the casing-in such manner as to permit the use of rigid blade positionm pins and without requiring any co-operation of or contact between the blade positioning pins and the flaps. These and otherobjects and-advantages of my improved construction will, however, hereinafter more fully appear.

In'the accompanying drawing I have-shown for purposes of illustration one embodiment which my invention may assume in practice.

In this drawingz-Fig. 1 shows ,a top view of the device. Fig. 2 shows aside viewwith the cover flapsv closed .and a razor blade with its. cutting edges located between. the pairs of rolls. Fig. 3 is a side view of the casingwith the cover flaps open. Fig. 4 is a section on the plane indicated by the dotted line 4-4 on Fig.4. Fig.

5 is a section on the plane indicated by the dotted line 5-5 on Fig.1. Fig. 6 is aperspectiveview of one of the cover flaps and 'the spring .which tends to throwit open.

The casing which is illustrated has a. curved bottom wall 1 with upwardly curved ends, and side walls 2. The cover'flaps have side walls 3 and flat tops 4 thatat their-outer ends 5-a-re curved downwardly on the same arcs as the ends of thebottom wall of the-casing. 'I'hefiaps turn extend through the sides of Fastened to the axle of one of the lower rolls is a crank arm 9 that has a handle 10. The upper rolls 11 are mounted on axles 12 that extend inward from the side walls of the flaps. Wound spirally on the-rolls shown are strips of leather 1'3.

Fastened to the axles of the lower rolls are gears 14 that are connected by gears 15, and fastened to the upper rolls are gears 16 that are connected with the gears of the lower rolls by gears 17 so that when the rolls are rotated. from the bottom of the bladeto be sharpened.

In the device shown-springs 20 are coiled about Pins 18 project upward casing for receiving the the pivotstuds 6 onone side, in such manner that their lower ends bear down against the-bottom or" the casing while their upper ends press upward against the under faces of the flaps. The curved endsof the flaps have slots 21, and extending into these slots are the shanks of push buttons 22 that are located in sockets in the ends of the casing and are normallythrust outward by springs 23. The shanks or" the push buttons are of less di ameter than the width of the slots, while on the innerends of the shanksare heads 24 that are larger'in diameter than the width of the slots. When-the flaps are closed the push buttons are pressed outward by their springs so that these heads24 willbe-engaged by the edges of the flaps and will hold the flaps closed.

By pressing the buttons inward, as by thepressure of the thumb'and finger of a person holding the casing, the heads of the buttons are moved inward from the edges of the flaps and then the flaps are-free tobe thrown open by their springs.

Thus itwill-be observedthat when the flaps are closed the same automaticallysnap into and are retained in closed position, while when the push buttonsare pushed in, the flaps are automatically released-and moved by their springs to full open the crank is turned all of 5."

in this construction the flap controlling mechanism described, being operatively connected between the casing and flaps, is in no way dependent upon the blade positioning pins 18 which, if desired, may accordingly be rigid pins and terminate substantially below the flaps as illustrated herein. Attention is further directed to the fact that when a blade is in the stropper, since all of the leather strips 13 will then engage the edge of the blade and the flaps thus cannot drop down as shown in Fig. 4, the flaps will then occupy a closed position slightly above the position shown in Fig. 2 in such manner as to space the adjacent edges of the flaps from one another and thereby permit downward pressure of the flaps against the springs 20 to vary the pressure on the blade as desired. These and other advantages of my improved construction will, however, be clearly apparent to those skilled in the art.

While I have herein described one embodiment which my invention may assume in practice, it will be understood that this form of the same is shown for purposes of illustration and that the invention may be modified and embodied in other forms without departing from its spirit or the scope of the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

l. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, cover flaps pivoted to the casing, blade engaging means comprising a pair of rolls mounted in the casing, lade engaging means separately carried by different flaps and co-operating with said rolls, gearing connecting the rolls, means for rotating the rolls, means normally tending to throw the flaps open, and means on said casing and controlled by said flaps for retaining the flaps closed.

2. A razor blade sharpener comprising a casing having blade engaging means comprising sharpening rolls therein, a plurality of pivoted flaps thereon carrying blade engaging means cooperating with said rolls, blade locating means, and means automatically made operative by movement of said flaps into a closed position for retaining said flaps in a closed position.

3. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, cover flaps pivoted to the casing, blade engaging means comprising a pair of rolls mounted in the casing, blade engaging means separately carried by difierent flaps and co-operating with said rolls, gearing connecting the rolls, means for rotating the rolls, spring means thrusting between the casing and flaps for throwing the flaps open, and means on said casings and acting on the remote ends of difierent flaps for retaining the flaps closed.

4. A razor blade sharpener comprising a casing having end walls, cover flaps pivoted to the casing and having depending end portions movable inside the end walls of the latter and forming a continuation of said end walls in the closed positions of the flaps, blade engaging means comprising sharpening rolls mounted in the casing, blade engaging means on said flaps cooperating with said rolls, means for rotating said rolls, and vertical slot and pin connections between said depending portions and said casing limiting the movement of said flaps.

5. A razor blade sharpener comprising a casing having end walls, cover flaps pivoted to the casing and having depending end portions movable inside the end walls of the casing and having slots in said depending portions, blade engaging means comprising rolls mounted in the casing,

blade engaging means on said flaps cooperating with said rolls, means for rotating said rolls, and positioning means for said flaps holding the same in a. closed position and having members on the casing projecting into said slots as said flaps are moved about their pivots and cooperating spring means tensioned as said flaps are moved about their pivots toward said rolls and relative to said members.

6. A razor blade sharpener comprising a casing having end walls substantially closing the casing ends, cover flaps pivoted to the casing and having depending end portions movable inside the end walls of the latter toward the center of the casing upon opening said flaps, blade engaging means comprising sharpening rolls mounted in the casing on axes parallel to said end walls, blade engaging means on said flaps cooperating with said rolls, means for operating the rolls, and means for inhibiting conflict of said depending portions with the rolls in the casing in the open position of said flaps.

'7. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, cover flaps pivoted to the casing, blade engaging means comprising a pair of rolls mounted in the casing, blade engaging means separately carried by different flaps and co-operating with said rolls, gearing connecting the rolls, means for rotating the rolls, spring means thrusting between the casing and flaps for throwing the flaps open, and push button operated manually releasable means in the casing automatically actuated by said flaps to retain the latter closed.

8. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, cover flaps pivoted to the casing, a pair of rolls mounted in the casing, a pair of rolls having 1 diiierent rolls separately carried by diilerent flaps, gearing connecting the rolls, means for rotating the rolls, springs thrusting between the casing and flaps for throwing the flaps open, and operating means having operating connections extending through the casing into the path of and obstructing the opening movements of the flaps for retaining the flaps closed.

9. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, cover flaps pivoted to the casing, a pair of rolls mounted in the casing, a pair of rolls having difierent rolls separately carried by different flaps, means for rotating the rolls, springs for throwing the flaps open, and means inside said casing and controlled by said flaps for holding the flaps closed.

i 10. A razor balde sharpener having a casing, cover flaps pivoted to the casing, a pair of rolls mounted in the casing, a pair of rolls carried by said flaps, gearing connecting the rolls, means for rotating the rolls, spring means thrusting between the casing and each flap for throwing the flaps open, and push buttons mounted in the casing and extending into the paths of the inner edges of the flaps for retaining the flaps closed. '5

11. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, cover flaps pivoted to the casing, said flaps having slots in their inner ends, a pair of rolls mounted in the casing, a pair of rolls carried by said flaps, gearing connecting the rolls, means for rotating the rolls, spring means arranged to open the flaps, and push buttons with shanks smaller than the width of the slots and heads larger than the width of the slots, whereby when said buttons are in one position said spring means will L open the flaps and when in another position said heads will engage with and hold the flaps closed.

1 2. A razor blade sharpener having a casing with curved ends, cover flaps pivoted to the 02.5

ing, said flaps having ends curved so as to turn within said ends of the casing, a pair of rolls mounted in the casing, a pair of rolls carried by said flaps, gearing connecting the rolls, means for rotating the rolls, means normally tending to throw'the flaps open, and means mounted on the casing and having portions engaging the curved inner ends of the flaps for retaining the flaps closed.

13. A razor blade sharpener havingva casing with sockets in its ends, push buttons in said sockets, cover flaps pivoted to the casing, a pair of rolls mounted in the casing, a pair of rolls carried by said flaps, gearing connecting the rolls, means for rotating the rolls, means normally tending to throw the flaps open, and means operated by said push buttons and engaging said flaps for retaining the flaps closed.

14. A razor blade sharpener having a casing with sockets in itsv ends, push buttons in said sockets, cover flaps pivoted to the casing, '21. pair of rolls mounted in the casing, a pair of rolls carried by said flaps, gearing connecting the rolls, means for rotating the rolls, and means normally tending to throw the flaps open, said push buttons having operatively connected means in normal position engaging said flaps and obstructing the opening movements of the flaps.

15. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, a plurality of openable covers connected to the casing, blade engaging means comprising a pair of rolls mounted in the casing, blade engaging means separately carried by different covers and cooperating with said rolls, gearing connecting the rolls, means for rotating the rolls, means nor- 'mally tending to open the covers, and a plurality of separately operable manually releasable abutment' means normally disposed in the path of movement of said covers toward open position for retaining the covers closed.

16. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, cover flaps pivoted to said casing and having resilient means normally holding the same in open position, rolls carried by said casing, rolls separately carried on different flaps, means for rotatf'ing said rolls, and automatically operated means controlled by said flaps disposed inside said casing and releasable from the exterior thereof for securing said flaps in closed position.

17. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, cover flaps pivoted to said casing and having resilient means normally holding the same in open position, rolls carried by said casing, rolls separately carried on difierent flaps, means for rotating said rolls, automatically operated means in- .side said casing and controlled by said flaps for securing said flaps in closed position, and push button operated means operable from the exterior of said casing for releasing said last mentioned means.

18. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, cover flaps pivoted to said casing and having resilient means normally holding the same in open position, rolls carried by said casing and cover flaps, means for rotating said rolls, and resiliently mounted abutment means controlled by said flaps and automatically operative to hold the same in closed position.

19. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, cover flaps pivoted to said casing and having resilient means normally holding the same in open position, rolls carried by said casing and cover flaps, means for rotating said rolls, resiliently mounted abutment means controlled by said flaps -and automatically operative to hold the same in closedposition, and push button means for releasing said last mentioned means.

20. A razor blade sharpenerhaving a casing, cover flaps pivoted to said casing and having resilient means normallyholding the same in open position, rolls carried, by said casing and cover flaps, means for rotating said rolls, resiliently mounted abutment means controlled by said flaps and automatically operative to hold the same in closed position, and push button means for releasing said last mentioned means, both of said last two means being carried by said casing.

'21. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, cover flaps pivoted to said casing, blade engaging meansv comprising rolls carried by said casing, blade engaging means separately carried on different flaps and co-operating with said rolls, means for rotating said rollsand manually releasable means controlled by said flaps and automatically movablev into holding position relative to said flaps when the same are moved into closed position.

- 22. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, cover flaps pivoted to said casing, blade engaging means comprising rolls carried by said casing, blade engaging means separately carried on difierent flaps and co-operating with said rolls, means for rotating said rolls, resiliently mounted means controlled by said flaps and automatically movable into holding position beneath said flaps when the same are moved into closed position, and push button means for releasing said last mentioned means.

23. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, a plurality of cooperating covers on said casing, cooperating operatively connected rolls mounted in said casing and on said covers and having connections for operation from the exterior of said casing, manually controllable means for retaining said covers in closed position disposed in the path of portions of said covers when moving out of said position, and means for moving said covers upon release of said retaining means toward the latter to open position.

24. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, a plurality of cooperating covers on said casing, cooperating operatively connected rolls mounted in said casing and on said covers and having connections for operation from the exterior of said casing, manually controllable means for retaining said covers in closed position disposed in the path of portions of said covers when moving out of said position, and means for moving said covers upon release of said retaining means toward the latter to open position, said retaining and opening means including resilient connections normally disposing the same in retaining and open position respectively.

25. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, cooperating cover flaps overlying the same and pivoted thereto adjacent their outer ends, cooperating operatively connected rolls mounted in said casing and on said flaps and having connections for operation from the exterior of said casing, means normally throwing said flaps into elevated open position, and manually releasable mechanism acting on the outer ends of said flaps for holding said flaps in closed position.

26. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, cooperating cover flaps overlying the same and pivoted thereto adjacent their outer ends, cooperating operatively connected rolls mounted in said casing and on said flaps and having connections for operation from theexterior of said casing, means normally throwing said flaps into elevated open position, and manuallyrleasabl'e push button operated mechanism acting on the outerends of said flaps for holding said flaps in closed position and; disposed in said. casing. and having push buttons extending through. thelatter.

27. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, co-

ODBIa tlIIgTCOVBIYfiaDS overlying thesame and pivoted thereto adjacent their. outer ends, cooperating operatively connected rolls mounted in said casing and on said flaps and having connections for operation from the exterior. of said casing, means normally throwing said flaps into elevated open position,. flap engaging means inside said casingdisposable in the path of movement of portions on the outer; ends of said flaps toward opening position and having operating means therefor operable from. outside said casing, and resilientmeans'normally disposing said flap engaging means engaging positionand said operating means in operating position.

- 28. A razor bladesharpener havinga' casing, cooperating cover flaps overlying the same and pivoted thereto adjacent their outer ends, co operating operatively connected rolls mounted in said casing and'on said flaps and having connectionsfor operation from the exterior of said'casing, means normally throwing said flaps into elevated open position, flap engaging means inside said casing disposable in the path of movement of portions-on the outer ends of said flaps toward opening position and having operating. means therefor operable ifromioutside said casing, resil' ient means normally disposing said flap engaging. means in engaging position and said operating means in operating position, and'means for eliminating conflict between said flaps and flap operating means upon release. of said flaps by said engaging -means;

29. A razonblade sharpenerhavinga casing with U+shaped sideewalls, cover flapst-with-itheir sidewalls-pivoted to .theiside walls'of saidzcasing, a pair of rollsmountedin'the casing; aipairtoi rollso'carriedby said flaps, gearing connecting the rolls; means' forirotating thegearing, spring means'normally. tending to throw-the flaps open, and yielding means having portions extending throughiztheends ofzthe casing and having portions normally'engaging. the edges of said flaps for'retaining ,the flaps .in closed position.

30. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, cover fi'apspivotedto the casing,- apair of rolls mounted inthecasing, a pair of rolls carried by said fiaps,- gearing connectingthe rolls, means for, rotatingrzthe: rolls, springs arranged to open the flaps, puslt buttons mounted in the casing, and springsnormally pressing the push buttons outward, .theheads of said push buttons; when the-buttons are pushed outward, engaging the edges of the inner ends of said flaps and obstructing the opening movements of the flaps.-

31. A razor blade sharpener having a casing, cover flaps pivoted to said casing-and having resilient/means normally holding the same in open position and depending portions on saidflaps movable inside the ends ofthe casing and having slots: in said portions, rolls carried by said casing and said flaps, means for rotating the rolls, resiliently mounted abutmentsengageable with said depending portions in the closed positions of said flapsand holding the same closed, and push buttons connected to said abutments and operable to release the same having portions disposed in said-slots inthe open positions-of said flaps.-

F-RANK E. WOLCOTTM 

